January 2007

Linda was born in 1968 and raised in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York. At around the age of 8, Linda's Dad gave her some old brushes and a set of crusty oil paints which started her love affair with oil painting.

Many years later in 1990, Linda started university at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she studied architecture and urban planning. After she received her Bachelors of Professional Studies in Architecture she continued on to do post graduate work. Linda designed her own dual curriculum meeting the requirements of two departments and in January of 1994, graduated with a Masters of Architecture and a Master of Urban Planning. It was during her last year of graduate work that she met her now husband, Ron Gross.

Immediately after graduating Linda and Ron moved to San Francisco, California, where Linda practiced both architecture and urban planning. Her list of professional accomplishments while in California are wide and varied: City Planning Consultant developing business improvement districts (BIDs) for the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento; Team Architect for the architectural firm, Collaborative, designing private homes and contributing to international design competitions; and Project Manager for Levi Strauss & Co's Corporate Headquarters. In addition, Linda was part of Levi's Emergency Operating Committee which designed and implemented the Operational Emergency Plan for the entire Levi Strauss & Co. corporate complex and it's 4000+ employees. Linda also volunteered her time for several years to Greenbelt Alliance and Urban Ecology, Inc., where she was part of their Compact Development Team and Community Design Consulting Program, respectively.

In 1999, Linda and Ron moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Linda's professional focus turned toward learning environments. Linda worked as an Associate Architect for the firm, Anne Taylor and Associates, designing learning environments and design education curriculum for children. Linda also taught a curriculum called, 'Architecture and Children', at the University of New Mexico's Institute of Environmental Education, of which Dr. Taylor was the Head. Her time with Dr. Taylor culminated in co-authoring a book entitled, "Alternative Learning Environments for Design Education". In addition to her professional work and teaching schedule, Linda embarked on a free-lance project to redesign the University's child care center. Here, Linda lead a team of designers, children and staff to reprogram, enhance and eventually redesign the facilities. Linda wrote a book on the experience entitled, "Exploring Manzanita, a Collaborative Project".

1999 also marked the first time since attending high school that Linda publicly showed her art. Her piece, 'Sacred Geometry', was exhibited at The Explora Children's Museum in Albuquerque to highlight the exhibit, 'Geometry in Art'.

Toward the end of her time in New Mexico, Linda started to explore Fung Shui to bring a more spiritual foundation to her design practice. In February 2000, a few months after she and Ron moved to New York City, Linda started Fung Shui practitioners training at the Western School of Feng Shui. It was there with Terah Kathryn Collins, the founder of the School, that Linda's path took an abrupt turn. During a visualization exercise, Terah asked the question, "what do you want to do?", and without hesitation Linda answered, "I want to paint". It was in this "ah-ha" moment that Linda decided to follow her passion for oil painting wherever it was to lead her.

Shortly after, in April 2001, Linda traveled to Austria and Italy to learn an old master's technique called Mische from artist, Philip Rubinov-Jacobson. She returned to Austria and Phil in 2002 as a studio assistant and to continue her studies. In 2003 Linda returned to Austria yet again for a rare opportunity to study with Phil's teacher and a contemporary master - Maestro Ernst Fuchs.

Since 2000, Linda has painted over 30 canvases and her art has been exhibited in England, Scotland, Austria, Italy, New York City and other cities in the United States, and has been highlighted in publications worldwide. After only 4 short years, her work has gained much acclaim and is starting to be widely collected.

Though time doesn't stand still! In March 2005 their beautiful daughter, Mona Rae, was born. And in May 2007, Linda and Ron are expecting twins! Linda now divides her time between being a full time Mommy and her art. Though she doesn't have the time needed to devote to large oil paintings, she has kept her hands busy during nap times with fabric arts. She has made several types of dolls, created amazing bags, and has recently tried her hand at quilting.

Linda and her family currently live in Austin, Texas, where they continue to make beautiful art together.